NOFX no longer part of Punk in Drublic

Andy Downing Editor @andydowning33

Thursday

May 31, 2018 at 2:00 PM

Fest organizers distance themselves from recent onstage comments made by band members

The day before punk camping fest Punk in Drublic was set to kick off at nearby Legend Valley, festival organizers announced a pair of acts had been replaced on the bill, most notably headlining act NOFX, a band whose fifth studio album, Punk in Drublic, inspired the event’s name.

NOFX was booted amid the fallout from onstage comments band members made during a performance at the Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival in Las Vegas over the weekend. “I guess you only get shot in Vegas if you’re in a country band,” guitarist Eric Melvin said, referencing the October 2017 shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, which left 58 dead. “At least they were country fans and not punk rock fans,” Fat Mike added.

In the days since, Stone Brewing Co., a San Diego brewer behind a NOFX-branded beer (also named Punk in Drublic), cut ties with the band, so the festival announcement doesn’t come as a total surprise.

A statement from the festival reads: “While NOFX is known for their dark, uncomfortable humor, the festival producers of Camp Punk In Drublic are shocked and disappointed by the band’s recent statements about the Route 91 Harvest Festival victims and country music fans. These statements do not reflect the feelings or views of the Camp Punk In Drublic festival, its staff, and its sponsors.”

The band also released a statement of its own, which said, in part, “What we said in Vegas was shitty and insensitive and we are all embarrassed by our remarks.”

The Descendants and the Vandals have been added to the lineup in place of NOFX and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.